Ethereum Price Eyes $1,500 as Bearish Catalysts Intensify

Ethereum slides toward a critical $1,500 support as bearish technicals, waning institutional demand, and geopolitical tensions weigh on the outlook.

Rich by Coin

2026-02-21

Ethereum price continued its strong downward trend on Friday as geopolitical risks rose and demand for cryptocurrencies waned. Ethereum dropped to $1,937, down sharply from the all-time high of $4,943. Ethereum price may continue the downward trend this year.

On the weekly chart, Ethereum has remained under pressure for several months, and has fallen for five straight weeks, sitting near its lowest level since May last year. It has dropped below the key $2,145 support, invalidating the inverted head-and-shoulders pattern, and moved below the 50-week and 200-week moving averages, with the Supertrend indicator signaling continued bearish control. The Relative Strength Index has moved to the oversold level of 30, implying further downside before a potential rebound.

The other main bearish catalyst for Ethereum is that demand from institutional investors has waned in the past few months. One sign for this is the fact that demand for spot Ethereum ETFs has waned. These funds shed over $130 million in assets on Thursday, bringing the monthly outflow to over $450 million. They have suffered outflows in the last four consecutive months.

Another sign of waning demand is that the futures open interest has continued falling in the past few months and now stands at $23 billion, down from the year-to-date high of $41 billion. Geopolitics may also contribute to the Ethereum price crash as cryptocurrencies are no longer safe-haven assets. All indications are that Donald Trump will attack Iran, as the US has accumulated a large armada in the region. In a statement on Thursday, he warned Iran of an attack that may happen in the next 10 to 15 days.

An Iranian attack would have a major impact on financial assets. For example, it would lead to higher crude oil prices, which may lead to higher inflation. This is important as this week’s Federal Reserve minutes showed that some Fed officials are considering rate hikes if inflation remains at an elevated level.

Still, on the positive side, Ethereum has some potential bullish catalysts, including soaring transactions, active addresses, and fees. Also, its staking queue continues rising, while its market share in the real-world asset tokenization industry is soaring.